You know it's a good sign when the first day of fall camp has more attendees than the previous eight years. That was exactly the case today for the Madison Senators who had a nearly full attendance count for varsity and coach Ken Duilio was expecting more to come out as the season nears. Coming off a 3-1 campaign in the PIL (5A), expectations are high for the Senators. Expectations the Senators plan on living up to.

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Success for Madison starts and ends in the trenches and with vocal senior Dan Study anchoring the offensive and defensive lines, the trenches will be in good hands. Study made the move from TE to offensive tackle last season and hasn't to look back. During some 11-on-11 drills today, Study easily dominated the man opposite him in creating large (and I mean large) running lanes for the backfield. Study keeps his technique tight, hands inside while driving his man 10, 15 yards back. Not only does Study lead on the field with his play, but the first-team offensive and defensive tackle is also as vocal and emotional a player as you could hope for, directing his teammates and firing others up.

Part of that backfield is quarterback, and one-time Wilson QB, Stephen Littleton. The first-teamer is in his second year starting for the Senators and says he feels more comfortable running the offense and looks the build off his success last season. Littleton will be part of a strong running game that looked electric in short duty this afternoon.

A new addition to an offense that should be fairly potent this season is Milwaukie transfer Andre Dixon. Dixon is a long, athletic 6'4" receiver with sticky hands (despite wearing a cast) and speed to burn. In limited passing drills today Dixon ran tight routes and caught nearly everything within arm's length and as his coach and teammates will tell you, he's "the real deal."

The first day of practice was about getting back in the football groove, regaining the familiarity. But for a first day of practice the skill players looked good and the lines, especially the o-line, looked strong. One day of practice might not set an entire story for a season, but it did give a peak in the window. And I'd venture to say that window is opening for Madison and a PIL (5A) title is in sight.